For most of the offseason, there have been serious concerns about the Denver Nuggets' bench. Especially after they lost Tim Hardaway Jr. to the Miami Heat and Peyton Watson to the Cleveland Cavaliers, there was some reasonable worry about how the team's depth could be an issue.
In ESPN's 2026-27 NBA season preview, for the Nuggets' "biggest weakness," they pointed out the bench as an area of concern.
"The Nuggets' bench was a strength during their championship run, but that depth has slowly withered away each successive season as financial constraints have limited Denver's roster building," Ramona Shelburne wrote. "This offseason, Peyton Watson was the biggest roster casualty. ... None of this will help the devastating on/off splits that plague the Nuggets every time Jokic comes off the floor. Last year had an elite plus-10.8 net rating with Jokic, but a minus-6.5 net rating when he was off the court."
Of course, we can understand why people are worried about Denver's bench, but maybe it won't be as bad as most are expecting.
A better bench than they're given credit for?
Realistically, Denver's bench is not as bad as some people make it seem. They completely reworked things this offseason, letting go of Hardaway Jr., Watson, Bruce Brown, and Jonas Valanciunas, but it will not be as much of a weakness as ESPN makes it out to be.
The Nuggets reloaded with fresh faces in DeMar DeRozan, Marvin Bagley III, Alpha Diallo, Trevon Brazile, Cam Whitmore, and Bryce Hopkins. Sure, the losses of Hardaway Jr. and Watson will hurt, but it feels like they upgraded in every other area.
The biggest downside right now is that the Nuggets will be without Julian Strawther for multiple weeks at the start of the season. He was expected to fill Hardaway Jr.'s role as a backup sharpshooter, and without him available, the bench unit lacks threats from beyond the arc.
Still, with a projected opening night bench unit of Tyus Jones, Diallo, DeRozan, Spencer Jones, and Bagley, and guys like Whitmore, Brazile, Hopkins, and DaRon Holmes available, this Nuggets bench unit deserves more credit. They brought in some high-upside defenders, and with six-time All-Star DeRozan leading the offense, there are reasons to be optimistic.
The non-Jokic minutes
As Shelburne noted, one of the bigger concerns is when Nikola Jokic is off the floor. The Nuggets have struggled when Jokic is off the floor for years, and it is hard to imagine that improving much this season. However, Bagley is one of the better backup centers they have had for Jokic, which gives us some hope that things could get better.
The misleading part about this, though, is that the Nuggets are obviously going to be better when Jokic is on the floor compared to when he's off. He is a three-time MVP and one of the best players in the world. Sure, they'd like to improve their minus-6.5 net rating when he's off the court, but we have to have realistic expectations.
It is hard to guarantee the Nuggets' bench will even be better than last season's, but there is reason to believe it will not be as much of a weakness as people assume.
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